A-1 Special article in Western Field 1912

[John Gardner]

Gentlemen,
If this is not the correct forum my apologies.

I recently came across an article in Western Field, September, 1912, 'The Small-Bore Shotgun - Part XXIII - A "Twenty-Gauge de-Luxe" by Edwin Hedderly, and wondered if it may have been posted here before?

The article describes the author's purchase in 1912 of a pair of A-1 Specials in 20 and 16 gauge, described as follows in a letter from W.F. Parker - "this morning Mr. King said to me [Mr. Parker] that they were absolutely the finest pair of guns that were ever produced in our factory". The 20 gauge was number 158966 and the serial number confirms 1912 production and that there are Parker records for a letter.

W.F.P. further writes in his letter that Parker Brothers would in future adopt two of Hedderly's suggestions for their high grade guns, facing the Silver's recoil pads in leather and a special narrow rib that improves the gun's aesthetics.

The article is 16 pages and describes the creation of the light weight 'express' style Parker guns, details on the guns, and the performance of various load and shot combinations in the 20 gauge.

This article also makes reference that in future the author would cover the 16 gauge A-1 Special in detail.

I was wondering if anyone was familiar with these articles and if someone might have a copy of the article about the 16 A-1?

I have attached one page below:

[Eric Estes]

Couldn't find that one, but in volume 18 the article "Gnat Gun Makes Good" with a 28ga 32" Parker was fun to read.
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008696985

[Kevin McCormack]

The Hedderly series of articles from Western FIeld magazine have been hashed, re-hashed, scrambled and flambe'd ad nauseum over the years on this and other BBSs. I spent a considerable amount of time and money 10-12 years ago procuring microfilm copies of the entire series with the idea of re-publishing it in a single annotated version with notes, addenda, contemporary references, etc.

Predictably, "life got in the way", so to speak; raising children caring for aging parents (both now deceased), periodic health issues, investigation of copyright qualifications, and the like all 'conspired' to forestall my original vision and efforts to publish. A more positive result evolved over time, however, in the realization that, other than the florid descriptions of the individual guns you refer to, is that there is very little "there" there.

That is, the fact that this material is now over 100 years old, and by definition so outdated by many iterations of technical developments in both guns and ammunition, that the real attraction (to me) of the series has evolved into a sort of whimsical fascination with Hedderly's efforts to promote and encourage greater use of smallbore shotguns for almost everything from trap to 'reedbird' shooting. His exhaustive patterning tests, for example, and resulting comparison of charts by gauge have essentially been rendered moot by time and firearms and ammunition development.

Most all of the rest of the attraction in reading the series is akin to revisiting the evolution of the development and use of smokeless powder vs. black, and the similar redesign of ammunition from multiple fibre wadding to single, self-contained shotcups. In short, a distillation of a now very familiar history of related subjects, all presented in the context of contemporary theory and practice c. 1909 -1912, roughly the chronological span of the series in Western Field. And in the end, all hopelessly outdated, of course.

As a result, I have rethought my original concept of series republication and have shifted tracks, so to speak, and have decided to concentrate more on the man himself and his role in promoting the use of smallbore shotguns vs. the exhausting trivia of experimemtal loadings. There is at least one other bona fide effort underway which I understand will cover that aspect of Hedderly's endeavors, so that facet of his work will be adequately covered and presented.

My final draft is in the works as we speak as I finish up another shorter, more focused effort on another individual personality equal in stature and influence to the shooting community at large. Now to proceed carefully on "the road not taken."

[Fishtail]

The inherent beauty of the shotgun lies in the fact that there are times when you still make a hit when you really didn't deserve to. And times when you have a miss when there is no reason to. That's why any discussion of patterning, chokes, point of aim, etc. gets me bored fast.

[Eric Estes]

Being new to Parkers and the history of American doubles I had never seen these old Western Field articles. Kevin, I look forward to whatever you or others may publish on Mr. Hedderly's series of articles. In his "The Small-Bore Shotgun XIV" article I did see one tidbit that I found interesting. When describing the Parker 28ga DH with 32" barrels he ordered he said this.

"The extreme length of the barrels, thirty-two inches, required a special importation of tubes of that length from abroad, and protracted the job of manufacture to a matter of six months."

I suppose for at least some gauges Parker did not stock long tubes.
Anyway, here is a picture from the same article that may be Mr. Hedderly himself with his long barreled 28ga DH.
28ga.jpg

[Eric Estes]

I wonder if that gun still exists. That would be some find...

[Researcher]

I seem to remember the Hedderly 28-gauge DHE-Grade being present when an early PGCA get together was held at the Great Southern Weapons Fair at the Fair Grounds in Richmond, Virginia. One of the Hedderly A1-Specials in well worn condition was pictured on the cover of the September 1966 Guns & Ammo magazine and is also shown in colored pictures on page 23 and black & white pictures on page 26 of the late Larry L. Baer's book The Parker Gun - An Immortal American Classic. The story goes that Pachmayr sent both guns to have the engraving picked up by their engravers in Germany and the 20-gauge disappeared in transit.

He got these four Parker shotguns in exchange for Parker Bros. ads in Western Field.

[John Gardner]

Kevin thank you for the recap. I thought someone must be familiar with the series and I look forward to your future account. I certainly didn't want to regurgitate something and waste anyone's time.

I too am only mildly interested in the details of shot patterning but I realize others find this intriguing and as you say it is extensive in Hedderly's article - six pages of it in the one mentioned above. However since it is from the time when then guns were first made I do enjoy it versus a more modern ballistics review where I am squarely in Fishtail's camp.

I like reading from the time period, what people were thinking and how they evaluated Parker guns, and others, and for me it makes a gun come alive to hear it being described by the principles of the day. Most of my guns are over 100 years old and it is precisely why I like reading and learning from period material.

I didn't realize there were four A-1 specials involved with Hedderly! Thank you guys for the information and pictures.

Kevin please put me down for a copy of your work when finished.

[Kevin McCormack]

Eric - Neither of my 2 original microfilm copies of the series Part XIV contains the photo you just posted. If it came from where I think it did, be VERY careful of reprinting it again without the original publisher's (not Western Field's) consent. This is one of the cases I referred to in my original post alluding to problems with copy right clearances. My experience was that the owners of this original photograph don't fool around! Don't take any chances here; copyright infringement us a serious matter, as Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams just found out. If you have further questions, please PM me on this site. Thanks"

Dave: Yes the 28 ga. gun in question was indeed shown at our PGCA meeting in Richmond at the event specified. The gun had some other interesting facets: between the time it was acquired by the dealer who sold it to the person who displayed it at Richmond, it "grew" an extra set of "original" 28" barrels. Investigation of that provenance became quite murky and did much to dull the original appeal of the previous history of the gun. It was subsequently included in the sale of that person who displayed it at Richmond's collection as part of the deal to an individual in Chicago.

The last time I spoke with Larry Baer before his death (RIP) he told me that the gun pictured on the 1966 Guns and Ammo cover was never sent to Germany and was ultimately sold (by Baer) to a man in Salt Lake City. Only the 20 gauge was sent to Krieghoff in Germany to have the barrels repaired (and if not possible, rebarreled) after (presumably) one of Hedderly's "ultimate possibilies" hand loads bulged the 3-inch !) chambers of one barrel. This gun disappeared in Germany and has never been traced. When I asked Larry about his theory on the ultimate disposition of the gun, he said, "Some farmer in Bavaria is probably shooting crows and barn pigeons with it right now."

[Dean Romig]

Google attributes the picture to the New York Public Library.